GRADUATION CEREMONY- Nov 2020

Post date: Nov 10, 2020 10:27:10 AM

Graduation Ceremonies have marked the UoM students on this particular Year. Despite the uncertainty brought by the Covid Pandemic, the University proudly celebrated its students's success on the campus.

Ø Faculty of Information, Communication and Digital Technologies –(Part 1) Tuesday 03 November 2020

188 students graduated from Faculty of Information, Communication and Digital Technologies out of which 44 Masters, 2 Postgraduate Diplomas, 138 Bachelor’s Degrees, and 4 Diplomas.

Welcoming Guest Speaker

Ladies and Gentlemen, as is customary in our Graduation Ceremonies, we have today in our midst, as Guest Speaker, Mr Neecharl RAMPROSAND.

Mr Ramprosand is currently the Cluster Information Technology Manager for RadissonBlu Mauritius hotels and he is also part of the Radisson Hotel Group’s ICT MiddleEast and Africa taskforce.

He is a Senior IEEE member and is currently serving as the Chairperson of the IEEE Mauritius Section. 4 Mr Ramprosand is also a member of Hotel Technology Next Generation global workgroup. Mr Ramprosand has over 10 years work experience in hospitality.

He has successfully opened and operating two new five-star hotels/properties in Mauritius for IHG and Banyan Tree Group.

I thank him for having accepted to address and inspire the convocation today.

Ø Faculty of Information, Communication and Digital Technologies-(Part II) & Faculty of Agriculture-Wednesday 04 November 2020

165 students graduated from Faculty of Information, Communication and Digital Technologies and the Faculty of Agriculture out of which 1 PhD, 145 Bachelor’s Degrees, and 19 Diplomas.

Welcoming Guest Speaker

Ladies and Gentlemen, as is customary in our Graduation Ceremonies, we have today in our midst, as Guest Speaker, the Honourable Maneesh GOBIN, Attorney General and Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security.

Honourable Gobin is holder of an LLB with (Hons) and is a Barrister at Law by profession.

He has more than 20 years standing at the Bar of Mauritius and has extensive experience in the legal and judicial service of Mauritius.

He also has significant experience of electoral laws and practices as Returning Officer for National and Local Government elections in Mauritius as well as African Union election observer.

Honourable Maneesh Gobin was elected as Member of Parliament for constituency No 13 on 11 December 2014 and as first member of constituency No.7 on 8 November 2019.

He has held several positions during the past six years:

· Chief Government Whip from January 2017 to September 2017;

· Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Human Rights and Institutional Reforms from September 2017 to November 2019; and

· Attorney General and Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security as from 12 November 2019.

I thank him for having accepted to address and inspire the convocation today.

Ø Faculty of Law and Management –Thursday 05 November2020(Part1)

200 students graduated from Faculty of Law and Management out of which 196 Bachelor’s Degrees, and 4 Diplomas.

Welcoming Guest Speaker

Ladies and Gentlemen, as is customary in our Graduation Ceremonies, we have today in our midst, as Guest Speaker, Me Catherine Nalletamby, Attorney at Law.

Me Nalletamby has expertise in various fields of the Mauritian Law namely; The Companies Act, Employment Law, Code Civil, Banking Act, Family Law, Environmental Law, Shipping Law and advice on Contracts amongst others.

She is a member of the Mauritius Institute of Directors since 2011 and is a Certified Mediator by MARC-CMAP.

I thank her for having accepted to address and inspire the convocation today.

· Dr Louis Jean Claude Autrey, CSK, Chancellor

· Professor S K Sobhee, Pro-VC (Academia)

· Dr Santally, Pro-VC (P&R)

· Mrs Issur-Goorah, Registrar

· Me Catherine NALLETAMBY, Attorney at Law

· Members of Congregation

· Deans of Faculties

· University Colleagues

· Graduands

· Distinguished Guests

· Ladies and Gentlemen

A very Good Morning to you ALL

On behalf of the University of Mauritius, I wish to extend a very warm welcome to you at today’s Graduation Ceremony.

Let me first of all congratulate you on your achievement. Your efforts and perseverance have taken to where you are now. I hope you enjoyed your studies at the UoM. We endeavor to offer you the best we can in terms of knowledge and skills so you are well prepared to step into the world of work. 2

As you leave the University, be thankful to your parents who for many have done lots of sacrifices to support you, your lecturers who have spared no efforts to guide you and to your sponsors. They all deserve a big round of applause.

Dear Graduands

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented disruption across all socio-economic sectors worldwide, forcing nations and organisations to not only take measures to limit the spread of the virus but to adopt new ways of operations in order to survive. Indeed, the COVID-19 crisis is a wake-up call to the whole world for a systemic change as well as a change in mindsets.

At the UoM, it was our duty and responsibility to ensure students do not suffer major perturbation and complete the academic year 2019-20 in a serene way. To do that, we had to take a number of bold measures such as switching rapidly to online delivery of lectures, replace exams for non-final year students by an additional continuous examination, schedule examinations for you as final year students in July/August 2020, on-line submission of dissertations and many more measures to ensure the least disruption.

We have been able to do that because we were prepared. Remember Louis Pasteur ‘Chance favours the prepared mind’. Second, we could adapt to the new situation swiftly. Third, we had to take some risks such as planning for exams without having the certainty that the pandemic will be behind us. As an entrepreneurial University, we know what is meant by being proactive and take risk. Fourth, it is also about resilience, how we can adapt to adversity. We could do all that also because we had the support of the student union and student community. Remember that, when there is consensus, there is progress.

Dear Graduands

Being proactive, taking risks, developing resilience are not trait-like as we tend to believe. They can be learnt, this is what we refer to as soft skills, so important for you in your job. Knowledge and skills – critical thinking, problem solving, team spirit, learn how to learn - that you develop at the university are certainly very important but attitude plays as big of a role: respect for others, enthusiasm 3 and positivity, your commitment to the job, helpfulness with others over and above loyalty, self-discipline, trustworthiness, should I add patience as well.

The COVID-19 crisis has taught us a new lesson – that the days of doing ‘business as usual’ is gone; that it is no question of normalcy. If we do not draw lessons from the pandemic and do business-as-usual, we will have to bear consequences in the future.

Before I conclude, let me also remind you all here of the important role you have to play in bringing awareness for the SDGs and embracing the SDGs so we can collectively achieve UN Agenda 2030. This year the UN celebrates its 75 anniversary. SDG 9 which is about Investment in infrastructure and innovation are crucial drivers of economic growth and development. Modern transport systems, renewable energy, information and communication technologies, digital technologies are becoming ever more important.

THE CLIMATE CHANGE BILL was presented in Parliament yesterday.

The main object of this Bill is to implement, with a view to addressing the adverse effects of climate change and developing Mauritius into a greener economy, the obligations of Mauritius under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement and any other related instrument on climate change. This is a great step forward which will allow us all to take concrete actions towards mitigating the effects of climate change.

The latest world innovation index points out to the need for more business sophistication, research and technology. Technological progress is key to finding lasting solutions to both economic and environmental challenges and at the same time ensure social inclusion.

With these words, I wish each and every Graduand all the very best in your future endeavours and I also invite you to join the Alumni so that together, we can promote the University to greater heights.

PROFESSOR (DR) D JHURRY, CSK, GOSK, FAAS

VICE-CHANCELLOR